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This was... I don't know if to call it insane or poetic. It has truly earned a spot in my top ten. Here is the last recap for the final episode and then then the overall review for the whole series:
Everything unfolds as the Seer had envisioned; the war between the humans and the Shapes comes to an end, and those remaining succumb to the city's insanity. Ichise fulfills his prophecy in Ran's last acts of desperation.
Ran being the voice of the city wasn't exactly unexpected, seeing as there weren't really any other candidates besides Onishi literally hearing the city itself, but the reveal was very well done, as we see the final scene of the previous episode from Onishi's perspective, and we see why he stabbed the pillar. Ichise's face off with Kano was somewhat anticlimactic, but fitting: a large battle between two people just wouldn't have fit the tone of the series, especially since we had already seen Ichise fight with the guys that gunned down Onishi. K The final shot of Ichise, dying, while looking at the hologram of a flower was haunting as hell. It also seemed fitting that at the end, he was just as ragged-looking as he was in the first episodes, a far cry from the man wearing a suit under Onishi that he was for a while. Everything came full circle, and the way it was described in one of the last scenes was simply too correct "The ninth repeating hell". Everyone in Lux is either dead or insane. The human race is no more.
Personal Review/Ratings:
Story 38% / 40%
I won't say much about the story because the characters below are basically the whole flesh and muscle of the story. The skeleton of the story is simple enough though. Mankind is below ground in the city of Lux and is slowly driven to extinction by outside as well as inside forces driving it's residents to insanity and/or death. The story in itself is beautifully and poetically written from when the show starts picking up the pace around the first couple episodes to the end. It draws a lot of inspiration from the Bible and Dante's Divine Comedy. The series itself is nihilistic in nature and it truly reflects during the whole show. The watcher will be subject to seamless violence. Chaos, lunacy, death, despair, and the gut wrenching knowledge of your inability to change the outcome of the entire series.
Characters 30% / 30%
The characters on this show were superb. This is probably this show's strongest point. I haven't seen characterization at this level since the 5D chess match between Light and L, most of Hunter x Hunter's cast, unique character traits in the Monogatari series, and Steins;Gate's brilliantly written mad scienctist Hououin Kyouma aka Okabe Rintaro. Unique traits were there the whole series all the way from Ran and her unpredictable thought patterns to Shouji's predictability and destructiveness. Even side-characters were developed in a way that compelled me to believe they weren't side characters anymore. Couple good examples of those characters include Kohakura and Sakimura. There is much I could write about their development but I'd rather stick with the main cast to keep it at least a little brief. The point is that the author had no qualms about making the cast incredibly complex and thought out.
Ishiki's growth is undeniable during the whole show. He starts of bleak. Hopeless. He has no reason to live whatsoever, his only purpose is survival, and he is not even sure why or even if he wants to survive. He gets picked up by the doctor and given new limbs which in turn give him a new purpose on the long run. We see him change throughout the episodes from a seemingly rabbit dog to a domesticated one while still keeping his nature as is shown when he punches the man that framed his father brutally. We are shown his change through stages. His despair when he leaves the doctor, his hope when Oonishi picks him up, his civilized self when he starts working for Organo. He gets to the point where he even kills innocents, something he would have previously never done, when he is ordered.
Oonishi was simply excellent. The boss of an organization that controls the city. He doesn't really care about it's inhabitants at all, he just cares to maintain order and power in check. Little by little though, Oonishi regains some of his humanity from before his legs were cut off specially when Ishiki joins the fold. I feel like Oonishi started to feel for Ishiki as a son he never had. Nearing the end of the anime Oonishi's character had still stayed true to his ideals even though his whole person had changed. He now tries to save the people leading the war against the shapes and choosing to stay in Lux even though he had the chance and reason to leave to the outside world. In the end Oonishi dies staying true to himself. Not giving in to insanity and disorder and even giving his life to make it so. Destroying Ran's mind in the process he is killed by the very people he tried to save.
Ran was also exclusively well written. A girl of few words sure, but we had room to see her grow so much. From a girl who feared the future and failed to change it no matter what she had gone to seclusion and became a mute. Not a literal mute but she doesn't speak much because of this fear. In spite of this and in spite of her predictions coming true she stops fearing the undeniable future and continuously tries to change it to no avail. Once she realizes she has lost and humanity is gone she decides to kill her own mind with the help of Oonishi who heard her voice for so long.
I could write so much more but I am trying to be brief.
Music/Sound 8% / 10%
Music was special in it's own way. I feel like I might've underappreciated the music on this show as it was 7% out of 10% during most of the show being only supported by the eerie op and somewhat hopeful ed. However what moved it to the 8% out of 10% was the song this final ep during the last few minutes. It truly felt fitting. It was ominous enough to match the tone of the show and the last scenes yet it was somehow still hopeful as if a glimmer of hope was waiting at the end of the tunnel only to find that it's a dead end.
Art/Animation 15% / 20%
I personally love the old school artstyle that reminds me of Monster, Akira, and Ghost in the Shell. Art is subjective and I personally loved it. The animation takes a few points away though as it is lacking in some parts. It might've been funding or something else but sometimes it felt like scenes were skipped because of the low budget animations. Despite their low budget they did a great job handling it.
Final rating
90% / 100% or 9.1/10
